A unit of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Mylan sued
Sunovion’s predecessor company in 2007 to block the introduction
of Brovana, which Mylan said infringed patents for a spray to
open bronchial passages.

Sunovion, based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, is a unit of
Osaka, Japan-based Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co.

The case is Dey v. Sepracor, 07-cv-02353, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

IRobot Files Patent Suit in Germany Against Five Defendants

IRobot Corp., the maker of the Roomba and Scrooba robotic
house-cleaning devices, filed a patent infringement suit against
five companies in a German court, the Bedford, Massachusetts-based company said in a statement.

The suit claims the Solac Ecogenic AA3400 robotic vacuum
cleaner sold and marketed by the five companies infringes five
patents.

In dispute are parents EP 1 331 537 B1, EP 2 251 757 B1, EP
1 969 438 B1, EP 1 395-888 B1 and EP 1 776, 623 B1. The company
said in the statement that in 2011 it settled a suit it brought
in an Italian court that involved two of the same patents.

IRobot said it now holds more than 200 U.S. patents and 195
patents in other countries.

For more patent news, click here.

Trademark

Clive Palmer’s Trademark Application Hits at Publishing Venture

Clive Palmer, the Australian mining entrepreneur who plans
to build a replica of the Titanic, has applied to register what
appears to be a newspaper name as an Australian trademark.

According to the application filed July 1, Palmer is
seeking to register “The Australian Times” as a trademark.

Palmer, who owns Mineralogy Pty Ltd., said in the
application that he plans to use the mark for the publishing of
newspapers and magazines; news agency services, advertising and
promotional services; financial, monetary and real estate
information services; paper, cardboard and goods made from those
materials; online computer services; and electronic downloadable
publications.

Major League Soccer, Fan Groups Settle ‘Cascadia Cup’ Dispute

A trademark dispute between Major League Soccer LLC and
three Pacific Northwest fan groups has settled, according to a
posting on the website of the Timbers Army, a fan group for the
Portland Timbers team.

According to the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, the Cascadia Cup Council filed an application in January
to register “Cascadia Cup” as a trademark. The group, which is
a non-profit organization with representatives from fan groups
for the Timbers, the Seattle Sounders, and the Vancouver
Whitecaps, said in its application that the term had been in use
since 2004.

In January the SounderAtHeart.com blog reported that Major
League Soccer had its own plans to file an application to
register the mark. The fan groups, which own the trophy awarded
annually to the top soccer team in the northwest, were outraged,
and were afraid the league would bar their use of the term.

Timbers Army’s blog posting indicated that an agreement has
been reached and more specific details will be released after
approval by legal counsel. The Cascadia Cup Council is to own
the name, logo and likeness of the trophy and sponsorship of the
Cascadia Cup will require unanimous approval of all the parties,
according to the blog posting.

For more trademark news, click here.

Copyright

Copyright Claim Halts Funding Effort for ‘Wild Things’ Sequel

A project to fund a sequel to the late Maurice Sendak’s
1963 classic children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are”
through Kickstarter Inc.’s crowd-sourcing mechanism has been
derailed because of a copyright complaint.

London-based Geoffrey O. Todd and Rich Berner were seeking
25,000 British pounds ($37,250) to produce “Back to the Wild,”
which is in the form of a poem, illustrated by Berner. The book
was to be a tribute to Sendak, who died in May 2012.

They said they wanted to bring the book out in 2013, the
50th anniversary of the original’s publication. Although
Sendak’s book was made into an opera in 1980 and a film in 2009,
he told comedian Stephen Colbert in an interview he wouldn’t
write a sequel because it would be “the most boring idea
imaginable.”

According to the Kickstarter website, the “Back to the
Wild” sequel page is “the subject of an intellectual property
dispute” and now unavailable.

Maltese Playwright Wins Damages in ‘Knights Spectacular’ Fight

A Malta registrant who claimed his copyrights to a play
about the Great Siege of Malta were infringed by a former
employer was awarded 3,500 euros ($4,500) in damages, the Times
of Malta reported.

According to the newspaper, Saviour Mallia said he was
hired to write what became the “Knights Spectacular 1565,” and
after his former employer continued to produce the show after
terminating his employment.

Mallia had claimed he owned copyrights to the plot, the
theatrical composition and other elements used in the
performance, according to the Times.

The ex-employer, MK Leisure Ltd., had argued unsuccessfully
that the work was collaborative, a contention rejected by the
court, the Times reported.

For more copyright news, click here.

IP Moves

McDermott Firm Hires Litigator From Edwards Wildman Palmer

McDermott Will & Emery LLP hired Brian M. Gaff for its IP
practice, the Chicago-based firm said in a statement.

Gaff, a litigator, joins from Boston’s Edwards Wildman
Palmer LLP. He has represented clients in disputes in federal
trial and appellate courts and in patent reexaminations at the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. His clients’ technologies
include digital circuitry, software and semiconductor design and
fabrication.

He has a both an undergraduate and a master’s degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, and a
law degree from Suffolk University.